Sitting outside Oliver's office
by messingwithmars
Summary: SPOILERS FOR S5.4! Which is why this summary is going to be very short. Sam and Andy sit outside Oliver's office waiting for Andy to get called in. Rated M to be safe. Please R&R! (Im new to this new account and am still trying to figure it out but rest assured I read the reviews, even if I somehow made them all disappear?)
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Wow. So its been hella long since I've posted on here. I usually use fanfic as a good writer's block fixer and since getting into RB. I really appreciate the feedback as I think it really helps and encourages and sharpens and I'm done... Be kind. I've been editing all day and my brain is fried and this is what came out. PS I'd love a beta (and I need one as you'll probably see)**

She wonders what they'll write on her tombstone. _Andy McNally. Daughter. Lover. Perpetual Rookie. Died of failure. _Sam fails to find the humor in that particular joke, giving her a disapproving glare as they both sit outside Ollie's brand new office waiting for the union rep to call her in.

"Look, don't let it get you down. We all screw up with our rookie's every now and then." He's sitting right beside her like he doesn't have a thing to do although she knows he and Traci have been bombarded these last few weeks with cases. She should be strong and tell him she'll be fine so he can get back to work but she doesn't have it in her. _Selfish when it comes to Sam Swarek_ will also be added to the grave marker. That's another particular sin she never quite forgave herself for, or ever seemed to curb.

(She thought, maybe, she had changed when she walked away from him and Marlo. Thought maybe she had it in her not to selfishly try to drive a wedge between them. But now that she thinks about, the minute she got to know Marlo she knew the wedge was already there. It had all just been a waiting game.

_Used a perfectly decent vet as a placeholder. _

At this point they'll need a whole mausoleum.)

"Yeah? Name the last time a rookie sued a training officer." She knows the answer but she doesn't care, she just wants to keep him talking to her, keep listening to the deep timbre of his voice. The whole time he lay in the hospital dying, she would turn to the spot next to her, expecting him to be sitting there for her to lean on, to make her smile, to keep her sane.

"Well I know the last time a training officer could've been sued by a rookie. But to be fair she came on to me first and rather aggressively, I might add, so it might never have held up in court."

She smiles then, the upcoming meeting travelling further away as the memory of that first year together comes to the forefront of her mind. She might be good at remembering a lot of details but Andy McNally knows she'll never remember anything as clearly as she remembers her life with Sam Swarek. They say adrenaline slows the mind's shutter speed down so that the human brain can process everything slower, in more detail. Usually it only happens during life and death situations.

Usually.

She wonders how hard of a time he would give her if she told him how much she can remember. The color of his shirt the first time he said a genuine good morning to her in the hallway at work. The way his hair was styled when he handed her back a report she had written that he had gone over and corrected with red pen like an English teacher. At the top he had circled "E for Effort" and then proceeded to ask her who he should arrest for letting her graduate high school. They had argued for a good ten minutes about the use of semi colons before Luke had sidled on up to the desk and she had forced herself to pretend she was glad for the interruption.

She puts up a finger in the air. "Um, excuse me, but I believe you came on to me first when you tried to kiss me in a parking lot after very suggestively offering me a 'ride home'," she concludes with air quotes. Sam rears back with eyes wide, in a way just over the top enough that she knows he's about to spout some bullshit.

"That is a gross interpretation of events. You, Officer McNally, read entirely too far into my perfectly gentlemanly and considerate actions. The actions of a T.O. simply trying to steer a rookie in the right direction-" he has to stop at this point. She's laughing into her hands so hard her whole body is shaking. When she looks back up at him he's got his tongue in his cheek and that sardonic half smile that she doesn't think she can ever live without again. She slows her laughter into a smile and suddenly drops it altogether.

"What were you thinking the night I came back to your place after the Alpine?"

Sam gives his head a shake and rolls his eyes like he can't believe she just shot that one out. He raises his eyebrows and pauses long enough for her to know he's picking a witty retort and not actually giving her the truth.

"Well when I realized you weren't going to leave without getting some action I figured I should just give in and get naked since you wouldn't take "no" for an answer."

His breathing catches a little as the words come out in a rush and she knows there's something deep he's keeping. He isn't usually so flippant about their sex life, even in jest. It's always been an unspoken thing between them that they never debase that aspect of their relationship by trivializing it in a joke. She smiles though, not because of the words but because of how he says them. She's heard that catch in his voice and seen that look in his eyes and suddenly something clicks into place and her heart starts racing while her smile widens considerably.

"McNally just drive."

She marvels at her memory. It's a compilation of tiny nuances, motions, and micro expressions that all form this codex that slowly cracks the code of Sam fucking Swarek. Suddenly, she'd give anything to be a million miles from here. Of course even before this moment she would've given anything to be far away from here but now there's an entirely different reason. She wants to be alone with him in Temagami with no interruptions so she can revel in this newfound Rosetta stone. She wants to kiss him deeply, strip his clothes off and hold him as close as one person can hold another. This "just friends" act and taking things slow has gone too far and her gut is telling her to step as far past this strange line they drew on their relationship as she possibly can.

The door opens to Shaw's office and someone calls her name but she doesn't budge. She's too busy running her eyes across Sam's face wondering if he's figured out how to read her the way she's pretty sure she can read him because he needs to. He needs to know right now because they've wasted enough time and while she knows going into this room isn't exactly a death sentence she doesn't want to take a step away from him without letting him know but she isn't sure how.

Sam's eyebrows knit together and now he's staring at her with concern. She's worried he isn't reading her right that he thinks she's upset because of this stupid fucking ex-rookie and the lawsuit and she just can't budge until he gets it.

His eyebrows smooth out a smidge but his face still holds an intensity as a small, minute smile graces his lips. "I'll be right here when you get out," he says not breaking eye contact.

And now she's smiling, alleviated because he could've said "it'll be ok," and she would've known he was misinterpreting her distress but he didn't and he gets it (or enough of it) and she's pretty sure when this obnoxious meeting is over she's going to drag Sam Swarek in handcuffs down to Niagara for a quickie wedding before going off her birth control and living the rest of their days fighting and fucking and laughing and never letting a goddamn thing between them again. He belongs to her, Sam Swarek does and it may have taken her five years and a million tiny puzzle pieces to figure it out but now that she has-

"Ok, I don't know what's going on here but I feel weirdly voyeuristic just looking at it. Seriously, this is a police station," comes the voice of Staff Sgt. Oliver Shaw from behind them. Andy finally feels confident enough to turn around and head into the office. Oliver gives Sam a look that is trying to be judgmental but failing miserably because they both know he's doing somersaults in his head over what he just witnessed.

"I'll try to have her out as soon as I can, brother. Maybe Nash can at least bring you some paperwork to fill out while you make a home out here."

Sam just stares at Oliver as he sits back down on the waiting room chair with his signature sarcastic smile in place. "Nash!" he yells, still looking up at Oliver, "bring me some damn paperwork!"

**POST-Notes: I think I went a little fangirly towards the end there. It honestly started out meaning to be more McNally-centric and then took on a McSwarek life of its own (which in my defense is how I'm pretty sure Rookie Blue as a series evolved) **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Ok, so people started following this story which put pressure on me to keep it going because otherwise you're really just following nothing (don't ever offer me drugs as I clearly have zero resistance). So picking up where we left off. Sam and Andy, like most people in life, have these big revelations in their heads and then when faced with reality seem to kind of taper off these grand schemes. Nevertheless, eventually Niagara will happen.**

**PS- Yes the format of this story has changed a bit. I kind of like the present tense for small one-shots but since we're expanding a bit here I'm switching over to past tense.**

There were certain things in life Sam Swarek never really liked to dwell on. As a cop, it was an excellent skill honed over the years that became a necessity.

(If he was being honest that skill developed long before he stepped foot in the academy. But hey, Sam Swarek didn't dwell on the past)

Of course, Andy would have to ask him to dissect the best night of his life like it was nothing more than asking him to describe an article in today's paper. In a way, he knew what she was asking. He also knew that the days of Andy McNally accepting his sarcastic, non-committal responses were long gone. It was a sixth sense that had developed since his release from the hospital. Their relationship stood on a dangerous precipice and Sam knew if he screwed up again there would be no salvation. In some ways, he missed the days of her easy compliance with his lack of sharing. She had always been careful to step around the subjects he clearly didn't like, wary of his reaction if she pushed too far.

But Andy had grown a lot since he'd left her in that parking lot in tears. His days of keeping a safe distance were long over and he was finding it wasn't something that he hated. A terrifying part of him craved the connection they had once lacked. He wanted her to know him the way she had always let him know her. And didn't that just suck?

_It's better than spending the rest of your life without her._

"Detective unless I'm mistaken my job title does not include bringing your paperwork to you whenever you're too lazy to come get it yourself." Traci's affectionate voice carried over to him. She knew damn well laziness wasn't why he was glued to his chair, but she couldn't resist the banter. It was a strange bond she and Sam had developed over the past year or so. Odd that while Jerry had been alive and Sam had been with Andy they had barely interacted outside of the basic exchanges.

"Detective, you have my deepest apologies. Our fearless leader seemed to think I should use this time to be more productive."

The "detective" address to one another had jokingly started not long after Sam had been promoted. Neither would've imagined that this was how they would end up professionally, sitting across from each other in the D's office, just the two of them in their relatively new positions with no Jerry or Andy around.

"I take it she's still in there?"

"Yeah Oliver just called her in about five minutes ago. They're probably going to be awhile." He replied, looking at his partner ruefully.

"Is it bad I kind of want to bust this guy's teeth in with my boot heel?" Nash said, having taken up residence in the seat beside Sam, chin in her hand. Sam looked over from the file in his hand and smirked.

"I think that might make his claims against the department a little worse. However, I happen to still have a few contacts on the street that may be willing to pay him a visit."

Traci laughed and looked at the ground for a minute, fiddling with her necklace. Sam could tell something was on her mind, so he went ahead and asked.

"I'm worried. Duncan's stepfather has major pull and the things he's accusing Andy of…This could get bad, Sam. Not just 'conduct unbecoming' bad." Sam narrowed his eyes on Traci as she continued to fiddle with her necklace.

"And?" he prompted.

"I'm thinking of asking Steve to get involved." She paused and took a deep breath in. "It's not a line I was ever really hoping to cross with him but best case scenario, Andy has a black mark on her record the rest of her career and she's off duty for weeks while under investigation. Worse case, they take her badge and Andy will not survive losing her badge."

Sam had personally experienced Nash's willingness to look out for people she cared about. He wished, like with Charlie, that she didn't have to be involved but he also knew she was right: Andy was up shit creek for no reason and Steve Peck was the best chance they had. Before he could respond the door to the office swung open and Andy walked out, her back ramrod stiff. When Sam found her eyes he could tell she was fighting back tears. He hated that she was going through this. An old feeling of helplessness claimed him and made his stomach clench. In five years he had felt it many times watching Andy go through the growing pains of being an officer but this was far worse than anything that had come before.

Andy continued down the hallway, Sam following behind her into the locker room. He gave her enough space for her to take a minute to herself. She slammed her locker door open and took a deep breath in. Turning her head, she took in the sight of Sam's muscled body leaning against the far wall. He looked so perfect, like everything she had ever needed in this world wrapped in fitted jeans, a burnout t-shirt and black leather jacket. Frustrated, she abandoned the locker and walked over to him. Placing her hands on his shoulders, she pushed him up against the wall and ran her hands down his chest. For someone in the kind of trouble she was in, feeling up a detective in the women's locker room probably wasn't the smartest idea but hey, she had never claimed to be smart when it came to Sam Swarek.

Sam felt the familiar shock go up his spine that never stopped happening when Andy McNally touched her lips to his (or her lips to anywhere on him if he's being honest). All concern of where they were or what they were in the middle of seemed to fly out the window.

(So maybe it's a good thing he hadn't kissed her that first day back as they took cover behind the squad car while Mcrae hailed bullets at them. He had wanted to. Shut her smart mouth up and make sure she knew she belonged to him as much as he always belonged to her. But it was maybe good he hadn't because getting fired for having sex on a bridge in uniform during a shootout was considered a no-no.)

He returned the fervor of her kiss and began pushing her back, snaking his tongue into her mouth so it could stroke hers in a way he planned to stroke other parts of her later. She pulled his jacket down over his shoulders and slid her hands up under his shirt. Sam meanwhile wrapped his right hand at the base of her neck and put enough pressure to keep her fused to him while his left travelled downward to pull her uniform shirt out of her pants. He took the offensive of their little parry and moved them until her back hit the lockers and he could press himself into her more fully. He'd been patient since his Lazarus routine and they agreed to be friends but the second she kissed him all restraint went out the window.

"McNally you in- Seriously are you both gunning for termination at this point?!" Traci's voice threw the proverbial cold water on the two and they separated, reality crashing down roughly.


End file.
